When human/cyborg enemies come into the mix, this begins to get pretty sadistic. Yes, you can chop off legs and watch your enemies drag their torsos around. However, this won’t prevent them from attacking; standing too close to a de-legged guard is a good way to have your shins violently hacked at.

The demo concludes with a boss fight against a doglike cyborg thing that claims to possess a superior intellect to Raiden even though it tends to call out its attacks before it does them. Which totally doesn’t seem like something a supergenius A.I. would do. Still, this thing is definitely not a pushover, and it will summon guards at one point in the fight, then later on bring in a Gekko.

Now, the Metal Gear franchise is known for bringing us some of the best boss fights in gaming history, and with that in mind, this cyborg dog thing feels a bit lackluster. It certainly doesn’t hold a candle to Psycho Mantis or The End. The fight is based mostly off button mashing and quick reflexes, which fits Platinum’s gameplay style, but doesn’t really jive with the whole Metal Gear vibe. Hopefully the boss battles become more creative and interesting as the game goes on, with some innovative ways to bring baddies down cheaply and easily (like sniping The End while he’s in the wheelchair or using your fake death pill on The Fear).

Ultimately, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance provides a completely reimagined Metal Gear experience with just enough old school touches to confuse longtime fans. That’s not to say it’s terrible—I’m quite looking forward to the full release—it’s just hard to get used to. And there’s a good chance a lot of fans are going to feel a bit betrayed by that. I guess we’ll find out if diehard Snake fans will be able to stomach it when it launches in February of next year.

Gameplay will focus on two key elements: swordfighting, and a style of stealth that is more fast-paced and action-oriented.

"Cutting" entails sophisticated swordplay that lets players engage in third person melee combat, as well as precisely slash enemies and objects "at will" along a geometrical plane using a "free slicing" mode.